Musical instrument.



P. G; GASCHE. MUSICAL INSTRUMENT. APPLICATION I'ILBI) APB. 27, 1905.

Patented Jamo-,41911.

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F. G. GASGHE. MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

APPLICATION FILED APB. 27. 1905. 980,938.

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Patented Jan. 10,1911.

RG. GASGHE. MUSICAL INSTRUMENT APPLICATION FILED APR. 27, 1905.l

Papend Jan 1o, 1911'.

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11G. GASCHE. MUSICALINSTBUMENT. l APPLIOATIN FILED APIILZ?, 1905.

PatentedJaIL 10,1911.

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FERDINAND G. GASCHE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 10, 1911.

Application 'filed April 27, 1905. Serial No. 257,766.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FERDINAND G. Gasol-1n, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook, State of Illif nois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Musical Instruments, of which the following is a. specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to musical instruments, and particularly to that class of niusical instruments in which the tones are produced by setting strings in vibration and the pitch of the tones is obtained by stopping the strings with the fingers in the wellknown manner. This class of instruments is well represented by the violin and instruments of its class, or by the guitar and instruments of its class.

It is the object of my invention to improve the sound-boxes of such instruments by constructing them of a certain predetermined shape, the various dimensions being determined as hereinafter poined out, the bounding walls being formed in general in the preferred. construction on parabolic or elliptical arcs, and certain of the dimensions of the various air spaces between the oppositely-disposed portions of the bounding walls being in harmonic relation to each other as hereinafter explained.

The means by which I have accomplished my object in a violin are illustrated in the drawings and hereinafter specifically described.

That which I believe to be new will be set forth in the claims.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a top or plan view of the body of such a violin, with the top mostly removed, leaving sufficient to show the position of the sound-holes. Fig. is a diagrammatic view illustrating the method of laying out such an instrument. Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the shape of the sound-box. Fig. al is a cross-section on line 4 4 of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a side elevation, partly in section.

Referring to the several figures of the drawings,-5 indicates the body of a violin embodying my invention, provided with a neck 6 and finger-board 7, both broken away.

8 indicates the back and 9 the top of the body.

10 indicates the side strips provided with shoulders 11 glued between the top and back of the body as usual.

The sound-box of the violin shown in the drawings may be said to be divided into three main divisions or spaces, two end divisions 12 and 13, and the intermediate division 14. As shown in Fig. 1, the strips 10 are brought to a point at two places, wooden blocks 32 being inserted so as to conserve a smooth unbroken inside surface, as hereinafterv explained. End-blocks 21-22 are also introduced, such blocks being formed as hereinafter set forth.

29--30 indicate sound-holes, preferably of substantially the shape shown, forming points 291-30a located as hereinafter described.

The manner of laying out and constructing a violin in accordance with my invention will now be described.

The first step is the determination of a basic or fundamental length. This will be, in the case of a violin, preferably a length such that a closed air column of that length set into vibration without forcing will produce the note known as middle C,--namely, thirteen inches. In dierent instruments this fundamental length might be different, but in the following description I shall take such length as thirteen inches, the same being represented by L. At any point along a line A-A (see Fig. 2), erect a line B-B perpendicular to said line A-A. Lay off on the lines OB distances O-E and O-F each equal to 2./9 L. About E and F as foci lay out an ellipse whose major axis is 2/3 L and whose eccentricity is 2/3, as shown in said Fig. 2, said ellipse cutting the lineA-A at S. Then lay off the lines D-I) and C-C parallel with the line A-A and at a distance from it of 3/16 L. The lines I-I and K-K are next to be laid off also parallel with the line A-A and at a distance from it of 1/6 L. Then about E as one focus an ellipse whose major axis is L is drawn tangent to the lines C-C so that the other focus will be in the line I-I. About F as one focus, another ellipse whose major axis is L is drawn tangent to the line D-D so that its other focus will be in the line KNK. These foci are found to be the points M in the line I-I and N in the line K-K- Next about the points M and N as foci an ellipse is to be laid out whose major axis is 1/2 L and whose eccentricity is 2/3, as shown in Fig. 2, said ellipse cutting the line A-A at U.

The end-blocks 21-22 are located and deto be drawn perpendicular to the line ii-it- Then lay out the straight line lll-il parallel to the line ifi-Ri which will intersect the line tkt at te, and the line r-o at yw', and at such a distance frein that the suin of the lines froni l to ic, froin te to u," and frein fw to )l will equal S3/2 L, or one and oiie-lialf tinies the fuiidainental length. Siinilarliv', lay out on the other side of the line ifi-A a second line X-X, parallel thereto, and intersecting lines and e-r at fu and af, respectively, and at such a distance froin the line AHA that the suni of the lines froni F to te, froin c to a,"

sound-holes. This portion of the back, say that portion opposite the sound-holes freni the points 20L-30 to the foot of the bridges-is to be benty so that. the greater portion thereof between its edges conforins to a surface generated by the are of an ellipse@- of which ellipse the foci are at the points 2te-430, any Isuch ellipse being utilized which extends between and beyond the lower edges of the ribs l0 as shown in Fig. l,- wlien such ellipse is nioved toward the bridge with its foci coinciding as nearly as possible, with the inner edges' oi'- the sound-holes. Vith the inajor axis of the ellipse partially bounding the space l2 eoual to 2/3 li as described, it evident that the length is such that a closed air colunni of the saine. lengthy would without forcing produce the lilith jabove the fundamental tone, such fundaa2 to N will equal 3/2 L, or one and onet half 'tiines the fundainental length. With E as a focus and a line passing Vthrough .lil

and parallel to the line fi as an axis, draw a parabolic arc inte Ating the line -i at tc and the larger ellipse at a point f1/ lith F as a tocus and a line passing through F and parallel to Ami-i as an axis, i

draw a parabolic arc intersecting the line f t at and the larger ellipse at y. These parabolic arcs ic-g/ and tv -i/ together with the portion of the straight line t if included end-block 2l. 1With M a focus and a line passing through M and parallel to lr-A as an axis, draw a parabolic are intersecting the line e-e atl te and the sinaller ellipse at 2. Siinilarly with as a focus and a line passing through N and parallel to ifias an axis, draw a parabolic are intersecting the line y'i1-o at fr, and the snialler ellipse at These parabolic arcs iff-5 and a: .2", together with that port-ion of the line e-f; included between the points w and ai', will define the end-block rl`he portions of the ellipses thus describedl` as shown in solid lines in Fig. Q, are then to be joined b v short arbitrary curves, thus finishing up the ontliiie iii accordance with which the side strips fornied and secured in place.

The location of the sound-holes Ell-l0 in the top 9 of the violin is deterinined by the position of the points 2W-230% The 4point- 29a defined by the sound-hole 25) is located nienlal tone being of course the tone pro and troni duced by a closed coluniii of air having a length equal to the fundamental .length L. the distance between the face,s .lwil of the cud-blocks iiln. flu case the fundamental tone :ere as above suggested iniddle C, then the tone produced by the closed colunin of air of a length equal to L would be the (l above iniddle The tone produced l a closed coluinn of air ot a length equal to l/2 L, the length suggested for the iuajor p axis of the ellipse bounding the space lf3,

3 would be die octave of the fundanieutal tone,

at a distance of l/2 L frein the focus E and at a distance of 2/5 L from the focus F. The point 301 defined by the sound-hole 30 is located at a distance of l/2 L froni the focus F and at a distance of 2/5 l, froin the focus E. The top itself and the back S are to be cui'ved arbitrarily to conforin to any approved standard, with the exception of t-he portion of the bach opposite to the n which in the case suggested would be the between the points ai and a', will detine the I above iniddle C. The tone produced b v a closed coluinn of air of a length equal to li, the distance between the arcs ll-ll and Gf-G of the space ist, would be the octave of the inajor fourth ot' the l'undanicntal tone, which in the case suggested would be the octave of the F above iniddle tf.

The three tones abeve-mentioned,-naincly the Gr above iniddle (l, the octave of iniddlc t" and the octave of the l? above iniddle @Mare harmonious with iniddle (l, and it is one of the iinportant features of niy invention that the tones produced b v two aircolunins of the saine lengths as the .lengths of the inajoi' axes of the two ellipses pai'- tially bounding the spaces l2 and ll and a i third tone produced by a closed colunin of 0l' ribs and the leiHfOlClig blUChS er@ 'l0 l@ the saine length as the distance between the arcs (fr-G and HMH shall be harmonious with the i'inndainental tone. Thus in in v iinproved sound-box, l provide a pluralit)Y of pairs of oppositelv-disposed faces, of which. in the construction shown, the plane faces 2B-el of the end blocks are at a prei deterniined fundamental distance apart. the g remaining pairs of opl)ositely-disposed faces 5 and the oppr `i in the construction shown being theends of the larger andv smaller ellipses, respectively, lya'lisposed arcs H--H and GQG, the distances apartI of the .faces ot' which several `pairs of oppositel'vflisposed faces are indicated by the lines {S4-3st,

and B5- 35, respectively, all of which dista nces are in harmonious relation to the fundamental dstance,that is to say, the distances are such that closed air-columns of such lengths would, 'vibrating naturally without forcing, produce tones harmonious with the fundamental tone. lith this feature in mind, it is evident that other dimensions might Vwell be given to the different parts. For example, the major axis. of the ellipse partially bounding the space 12 might bc 3/5 L, when the tone would be the major sixth above the fundamental. Or this major axis might be 5/8 L, when the tone would he the minor sixth above the fundamental. Ur the major axis might be i/5 L, perhaps, when the tone would be the major third above the fundamental. The distance between the arcs G-G and IfL-H might be made, for example, 1/3 L in place of 3/8 L as above suggested, when the tone would be the octave of the fifth above the fundamental. All of these alternative tones, produced by closed air columns of lengths equal to the above-suggested alternative dimensions, are harmonious with the fundamental tone. Other dimensions might be used even in a violin, perhaps, without departing to any very great extent from the usual general shape of the instrument, and it is evident that in instruments other than a violin many different dimensions might be used without departing from ni y invention. Thile I have said above that some other distance than thirteen inches might be employed between thc end-blocks QlwQQ, still it is considered preferable in a violin that this vdistance be used. ln other instruments, any other desired distance might be used to as good advantage, thus establishing some fundamental tone other than middle C.

ln a violin constructed in. accordance with the dimensions first above suggested, it is evident that the distance from the focus E to any point along the arc l-fg/ or 16-3/ plus the distance from that point to the focus F equals 2/8 L, the length of a closed air-column which would produce the G above middle C. Likewise, the distance from the focus M to any point along the arc 17;@ or thc arc 18-2 plus the distance from that point to the focus N equals 1./2 L, the length of a closed air column `which would produce the octave of middle C. Likewise, the distance from the focus E to any point in the parabolic are y'w, plus the distance from thaty point along a line parallel with the central longitudinal line of the violin to the point where such line cuts the parabolic arc z-w, plus the distance from that point to the focus M equals 3/2, the length of a closed air column which would produce the F below middle C. On the other side of the instrument, the distance from the focus F to any point in the paabolic arc :r-g/, plus the distance from that point along a line parallel with the central longitudinal line of thc violin to the point where such line cuts the parabolic arc icl-z', plus the distance from that point to the focus N also equals 3/2 L. The distance from the focus E 'to any point along the arc (1l-Gr plus the distance from that point to the focus M, as also the distance from the focus F to any point along the arc H-H plus the distance from that pointto the focus N, equals L, the length of a closed air-column which would produce the fundamental tone.

that I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,-

l. A sound-box for musical instruments comprising ai plurality of pairs of opposiftely-disposed faces, the faces of one pair of which are at a predetermined fundamental distance apart, the distance between the faces of each of said other pairs of oppositely-disposed faces being in harmonic relation to said fundamental distance.

2. A resonance-box for stringed instruments having its ends formed on elliptical arcs, the lengths of the major axes of said ellipses being in harmonic relation to each other.

3. A resonance-box for stringed instruments having its ends formed on elliptical arcs, the lengths of the major axes of said ellipses being in harmonic relation to the distance between the oppositely-disposed end faces of the box.

et. A resonance-box for stringed instru` ments having its ends formed on elliptical arcs, the lengths of the major axes of said ellipses being in harmonic relation to each other and in harmonie relation to the distance between the oppositely-disposed end faces of the box.

5. A resonance box for stringed instruments having its ends formed on elliptical arcs and having blocks in the ends of said box with plane central faces, the lengths of the major axes of said ellipses being in harmonic relation to each other and in harmonic relation to the distance between the plane faces of said end-blocks.

6. A resonance box for stringed instruments with ends formed on elliptical arcs, and blocks in the ends of said box having central plane faces, the central portions of the sides of said box being formed on elliptical arcs whose foci are respectively two of the foci of said first-named arcs, the lengths of the major axes of said ellipses being in harmonic relation to each other and to the distance between the plane faces of said L end-blocks.

7. A resonance box for stringed instruments having its ends formed on elliptical arcs and having blocks in the ends of said resonance box, said blocks having central j z-a plane taces and parabolic sides whose foci are respectirel;v the saine the nearest foci ot' said elliptical ares, the central portions ot the sides of .said box beinl forined on elliptical arcs whose taci are respectively two of the foci ot said iirsg-nained ares, the lengths ot' the inajor axes el said ellipses beinel in harmonic relation to each other and to the distance between the plane faces ot' said end-blocks.

S. A resonance box tor stringed .instruinents with its ends orined on elliptical ares, and blocks in the ends ot said box having' central plane faces and parabolic sides7 the loci ot said parabolas coinciding with the adjacent Joci ot said ellipses, the axes ot said parabolas being` parallel with the central lone'itudii al line ot the instrninent, and the distance troni each focus to the adjacent pa 'abola plus the distance Jtroni that point along a line pa 'allel with the central longitutlinal line of the instrninentto the parabola at the opposite end of the instruineiit plus the distance troni that point to the nearest tocas, and also the lengths of the inajor axes ol" said ellipses7 being in harinonic relation to the distance between the central plane faces ot' said end-blocks.

5.). )i resonance box tor stringed instrunients rating; its enos formed on elliptical arcs, tl e central portion of the side ot said box at. each side otl the central longitndinal line ot the instrument beingtorined on an elliptical arc whose foei coincide with the Llioci oiA` :said hist-mentioned ellipses that are laea'f`d on the opposite side ot said central longitudinal line oi the instrnnnentl` the lengths ot the inafor axes oit all oi said elliY ses being in harmonic relation to the distance between the inner end faces ot said instrument.

lt). Si resonance box tor stringed instrrnients haring' its ends toi-ined on elliptical arcs, the central portion ot the side of said box at each side of the central longitudinal line oi the inf-gtrninent being torined on an elliptica1 are whose ioci coincide with t-lie taci of said first-mentioned ellipses that are located on the opposite side ot said central longitndinal line of the instrument, the lengths ot the inaior axes of all of said ellipses and the distance l etween said second-mentioned elliptical arcs being in liarinonic relation to the distance between the inner end taces of said instrument.

ll. A. resonance box .t'or stringed instruinents haring its ends iornied on elliptical ares and haring" blocks in its ends, said blacks haring' central plane faces and pa: bolle sides. the foci ot said parabolas coincidingl with the adjacent inci ot' said e-llips the axes ol: said parabolas being paralle with the central longitudinal line ot the instruinent. the central portion ot' the. side ot said box at each side of said central longitudinal line being forined on an elliptial arc whose foei coincide with the foci ot said lirst-inentioniul ellipses that are located on the opposite side at said central longitudinal line, the distance troni each focus to the adjacent parabolic are plus the distance troni that point :thingl a line parallel with the said central longitudinal line to the parabolic are at the opposite end oi'l the instrninent plus; the distance ironi thatr point to the nearest i'ocns, and the distance between said elliptical arcs which forni the cent al side boundaries, and the lengths ol the inajor axes not all of said ellipses, being in harnionic relation to the distance between the faces of said end-blocks.

l2. A sound-box for innsieal instruments haring' a bael-. a top, and side ribs7 and haring' pointed sound-holes in its top, and having; tl e inner snrtat'e ot the baci; opposite the sound-holes curved in the torni of a cylindrical surface whose generating curve is a portion of an ellipse whose foei are the points ot the soinid-holes.

FERDINAND G. GASCHE. lllilnesses:

C. l. lioimno, illixxin A. HUNTER. 

